> Since then, I have learned new things, but not because they were "relevant" or "important", bit just because they were fun.
How do you maintain a career? I stopped caring about relevant and important and my career suffered for it. I stopped caring about fun because it was either a waste of time or inaccessible.
This is what I hate about this industry at this point in my life. Just this morning I was fantasizing about being a dentist instead and just be able to work for as long as I like, not worry about ageism, and otherwise live my life, without needing to constantly “keep up”
I think this is kind of a fantasy. My impression of dentistry and the medical field in general are that there are constantly new procedures coming out to learn, new techniques to implement, and new tools to train on.
Maybe ageism is less of a thing since a lot of dentists are self employed but if the dentist down the block is cheaper/better/less painful you're going to see less revenue.
Similarly you could find a job maintaining ATM software in 90s style Java but your earning potential will probably be impacted.
How do you maintain a career? I stopped caring about relevant and important and my career suffered for it. I stopped caring about fun because it was either a waste of time or inaccessible.